Newsom, Johnson Drug Conference: Is Legalization The Answer To The War On Drugs?

Nov. 4, 2011 - "It is rare for a politician to openly advocate the legalization of drugs as the solution to the country's drug problem. But that's just what California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson did this week at the four-day International Drug Policy Reform Conference in downtown Los Angeles....

Republican candidate Johnson, a libertarian often compared to Ron Paul, stood in front of the conference audience and promised that if he was elected president, he would fully pardon anyone in prison for a non-violent marijuana crime....

Lt. Gov. Newsom said in his remarks that California ... will 'certainly be on the front lines of reconciling the abject failure that has been 40 years, this failed war on drugs.'.... Newsom revealed to the crowd that many politicians believe in legalization but are afraid to voice that position, Intersections South LA reports. 'My gosh, if I could just tape-record the private conversations, it would just break your heart,' Newsom said. 'We know better, we're just not doing better.'"